


Night's bite

by Elybell



Category: Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)
Genre: AU, F/F, I'll add the tags with the chapters guys, Victorian vibes, unbreakable curse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:15:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28404594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elybell/pseuds/Elybell
Summary: Raelle was curious. Her curiosity would kill her someday. But this was not the day.(The summary will probably change over time)
Relationships: Raelle Collar/Scylla Ramshorn
Comments: 10
Kudos: 40





	1. Act I

**Author's Note:**

> So, I just had to write. Maybe this thing will be a holiday thing. My hope is to give you a chapter everyday.  
> (Sorry for the center text, if some of you aren't fan of it, i just love the format so, so, so much. Could it be my distinctive trait?)

Sun burned.

On her skin, on her hair. She loved and hated it at the same time. How could she? Such different feelings to feel in one single body, one single moment. She felt it anyway, and couldn't help herself but feel.

Her lips curled up in a smile under those rays, kissing her skin, biting her mind with their soft, tickling teeth.

It felt good, even if it was a bit annoying. The skin cracked, imperceptibly, of course, but she felt it, and she liked that light pain. The sun was good, it helped her soul, it welcomed her bright eyes in their natural habitat. It irritated the pupils, but the irises were happy, and since they are the crown of the eyes, they possess the power.

Sun burned, and Raelle walked through the paths covered in grass, bared feet, hands in the pockets of her light grey trousers. Nose up.

Distant from the village, she arrived closer to the House.

On the hill to the north, beyond the wood, there was a large and unexplored dwelling, abandoned. Yet its beauty was unmatched. Anyone who possessed a minimum of common sense said that it was the work of evil: only evil could create something so beautiful, abandon it, and see its beauty thrive in abandonment.

Raelle could hardly believe it. How could that only be the work of evil? She had never come closer than this, of course, she had never left the safe path. Yet in the days when her feet were tired, she rested her forearms on the wooden trellis, and she had leaned forward, trying to see as much of the majestic abode she could.

It owned more than three floors, at a guess. The outer walls were probably made of dark red brick, or so it seemed. Each window, probably of brass, had a slender and tall shape; some, instead of the simple transparent surface, had beautiful colored glass mosaics depicting scenes or subjects too meticulous to be distinguished from that distance. The roof was dark, a shade a little lighter than black. And there were many other details, which it was impossible to scrutinize from there. Certainly not with the naked eye.

Raelle focused her sight, narrowed it to see, and leaned against the wood, that simple fence that the villagers thought of as an impassable border. The blonde smiled, thinking them silly.

And she stepped over.

Raelle was curious. Her curiosity would kill her someday. But this was not the day.

The sun was now setting far behind the mountains, but she didn't care.

The wolves howled in the woods, alert to the figure who was now in uncharted territory, her shadow long on the tall grass, walking on the small stretch of plain next to the water lily pond and through the abandoned rose garden, before climbing the hill. Their cry was a warning.

But she didn't care.

The house appeared almost suddenly in front of her eyes. Immense, majestic, tall and intimidating. Raelle didn't care. Like the sun and it's light, which enters the most hidden crevices, which leaves nothing to the imagination, she entered that place, thinking of bringing life.

But life was already there, patient.

And it was just waiting for someone to approach, to be able to escape and leave trapped inside the unwary visitor.

Night fell quickly.

The full moon rose in the dark hungry sky.

The door of the mansion opened with a gust of wind,

Raelle didn't even have time to take a last breath.

Night bit her.


	2. Act II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter today because why not. I am inspired! (Also because it becomes more intriguing. First questions rise)

_"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Rae, happy birthday to you!"_

Raelle quickly rubbed two fingers on the side of her forehead, on her temple, hiding her discomfort. Daughter of the town doctor, Raelle knew how to heal cuts, wounds, burns, fevers, and she couldn't even handle a little embarrassment, moreover in front of her parents's friends. In those days they had many, because her mother was the doctor and everyone in town was very proud of her and her cordial person. Edwin certainly did not have the same outgoing personality, he always had been more similar to his daughter.

The two exchanged an awkward look.

Hers full of anxiety, his of regret.

It was Willa's idea to invite her friends over to celebrate birthdays, and Raelle was certainly too young and kind to refuse.

\------

_"Happy birthday, Rae"_

Raelle lifted a single eyelid, stretching under the covers. Edwin sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. A year had already passed.

It certainly wasn't the birthday she'd had then, or two years ago, or every single one, back in the years as long as she could remember.

She smiled at her father anyway, trying to pull her lips as much as possible despite the terrible sense of oppression and abandonment always alert to the pit of her stomach. Constant, persistent, tireless.

Raelle didn't know what that thing was eating for being so strong. Maybe her. Or perhaps, on the other hand, it was so present because only two months had passed since her mother's death.

The girl smiled at he man anyway, leaning on her elbows, pushing against the desire to return abandoned on the bed and keep her conscience asleep, because the hope in her battled every single day to keep alive that flame that allowed her to go on.

"Thanks Dad"

\----

Her birthday would come in just a week.

_"Happy birthday, biscuit. And welcome"_

Raelle's eyes popped open and wide in the dark. Hands on the ground, trembling, ears buzzing, breath fast, clothes clinging to her body. It almost seemed like she had been thrown into the water and fished out by her hair . She felt wet, and cold, despite... Despite her heart...

Her heart didn't beat in her chest.

She breathed even faster, sat up on the immaculate darkness, feeling a warm surface beneath her body, not entirely unpleasant.

She put a hand on her chest, felt the pounding.

Her heart was beating.

But she didn't feel it inside her.

Raelle pressed the other hand to her chest in panic, on top of her sodden clothes, and clearly heard the drum of her heartbeat fast beneath her palms, cold on the surface but hot in the inside.

What the hell had happened?

Where was she?

All of this must clearly be caused by the fright. She was just scared, but scared of what? What had happened?

She had heard a voice. Yes. Now she remembered.

What had it said?

She heard herself breathing heavily, like she wasn't really inside her body. She felt her head turn in search of light, of anything useful to tell her where she was. She gathered the little courage she was so proud of and she carried it on up, up her throat, until it came out between chattering teeth.

"Is anybody there?"

Nothing answered her. Just absolute silence.

Under her hand still pressed to her chest, her heartbeat reminded her that she was alive. Not dead. Her inner ear, however, did not perceive anything; absolute emptiness. She could feel her wet clothes - it was sweat, not water - by touch, but she didn't feel any dampness on her skin.

From the top of the large stairs immersed in the total darkness of the mansion, two eyes of the same color as the dark observed the girl, sitting on the ground on the large carpet spread in front of the entrance doors. She had stained it all with sweat, in the struggle for survival. Now it needed to be washed and cleaned. Truly annoying.

Eyes felt pity for that poor thing.

Just for a moment. Then smiled.


	3. Act III

With her knees so tight to the chest it was hard to breathe. After feeling the dark under indecisive fingers, fear being the only constant, she had managed to find a corner narrow enough to slip into.

Raelle remained there, still, for three long days. In the dark.

Most of the time she kept her eyes closed and lulled herself back and forth, rhythmically pushing her back against the wall, creatine a deaf 'tum' sound, telling herself that it would all be over soon, that she must have simply fallen, had hit her head, and now she was inside a dream. A dark dream, incredibly real.

Every now and then she pushed her palm on her chest, hard against her breastbone, just to hear the beating of her heart. The only anchor.

She had fallen asleep after many hours of waking, deep in the dark, curled up in that corner, her forehead resting on her knees.

In the thick of the black, Eyes came and went. Sometimes interested, sometimes incredibly bored. Changing guests was always a hassle: they were scared at first, they didn't see, they needed a guide. The guide came, they understood, struggled, then fought, eventually they gave up.

And at the end they found a way to leave, when the perfect opportunity presented itself. Eyes certainly couldn't blame them. After all, this wasn't a real prison, or a great unbreakable curse. It was just a way to stay alive, to have the security of staying alive.

For hundreds of years.

\- - - -

The light had entered at dawn, through the large windows on the entrance wall of the house, coloring the dark and well-kept wooden floor with shades of the rainbow. Eyes went to rest. Raelle saw no beam of light, though. She kept her eyes wide open, but the light did not reach her irises, her pupils, because her struggle was still going, the fight wasn't over yet. She still didn't understand what had happened, she needed more time. When Raelle finally fell asleep, exhausted, the outside world was now immersed in the afternoon of the day following the one in which she had approached the ancient dwelling that had taken her, claimed her, locked her inside itself.

The sunset light gave every part and detail of the large hall an absolutely quiet and silent aura, apparently peaceful, but this Raelle did not see -not yet-, because she was immersed in the darkness.

And in the darkness she got lost, falling asleep.

When waking state came back, she sensed something beside her. A glass. She felt the immediate instinct to bring it to her lips, smell what it was. It was heavy, which meant it wasn't empty. She carefully stuck a finger inside, it felt wet. But as soon as she took her hand away, that feeling was gone. She then remembered the clothes, she touched them, and knew that time had passed because they weren't as wet as they were before. She didn't trust the glass anyway. So it remained there, and her eyes didn't look back to where it was placed.

On the second day, or... At least that seemed based on her perception, Raelle felt her lips dry. The empty stomach.

She sighed, feeling a little calmer, but still scared, and the mind instinctively thought about the village girls, one in particular. The cutest.

She quickly dismissed that image, focusing instead on the glass full of liquid, still there. Who had brought it? Why wasn't there food too? They wanted to kill her, that was the purpose of... Whose trapping her there?

But it was only a dream. She would wake up.

For sure.

She pulled her legs to her chest once again, locked her fingers to not grow tired of the position, drawing attention back to her body, to the fact that she was... she, was she alive?

She was alive. Two fingers pressed against the pulse point on her neck confirmed it.

\- - - 

On the third day she realized that she was not asleep. Her body began to burn from within, and if hers was fever she would certainly wake up. It hurt, it eroded a spot just below her heart, and that erosion involved all of her senses. She began to breathe heavily, squinted eyes, and she felt her throat slowly filling up with something; like a liquid, like a fire, but of the consistency of water, which went up the walls of her throat and ended up in her mouth, under her tongue, giving a name to the fever she felt.

Hunger.

She thought about the village girl.

She groaned through clenched teeth, something burned in the back of her hard palate.

But then something happened. The littlest of movements.

Raelle opened her eyes in the darkness, she glimpsed a dark silhouette against the black. It took her a few seconds to realize that this was not a fruit of madness. The image of the girl in her mind dissolved and Raelle pressed against the joined walls at the corner, frightened by that almost imperceptible shadow.

She was thirsty. And hungry. But she didn't dare move.

Eyes looked at her from the top of the stairs, on the right, where she could not see or even know. They narrowed, black in black, impatient. But the voice that came from there was not lacking in honeyedness.

"You'll have to drink, child. Sooner or later"

Raelle heard the voice coming from everywhere, right, left, below, even from behind, vibrating against the wall. She looked around, in vain. She didn't answer, afraid. HHerbreathing became agitated once again.

"Silly child"

"Leave her alone. She's just scared"

The second voice possessed a body, and also a direction. Raelle felt it in every fiber of her being, which she would never have believed possible. It was the shadow moving in front of her, bent on the floor.

"Who are you?" Raelle stared in that direction, she cleared her dry and now empty throat, but it gurgled of the same substance that had invaded her mucous membranes. Swallowing, tasting sour and acid, the blonde grimaced, coughed, spat on the ground. It was disgusting.

The shadow lifted its head in the darkness, its boundaries were anything but defined, but Raelle knew it was watching her. That they were watching each other.

"Who are you" repeated Raelle, armed with courage, ignoring the burning on the vocal chords.

The shadow, instead of talking again or give a response, disappeared in a cloud of its own color, taking away with it the sweat-stained luxurious carpet.

A soft, low laughter spread into the hall, the hairs in the back of Raelle's neck rose, and she became afraid again in the face of that non-existent and omniscient presence at the same time.

"She can already see you, little beast. We're making progress faster than expected."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The real question is: what is happening. What and who are these?  
> Answers are coming.  
> This was your chapter for today! Will I post another one before the night?  
> Maybe!


	4. Act IV

"You have to drink, little beast"

Raelle glared upward, assuming that was the direction from which the low, hollow voice was coming from.

"Never"

"Then you will die."

She lowered her head, resting it on her knees, now aching, like the rest of her entire body. She felt exhausted, fatigued, impatient, nervous, and incredibly hungry. Although she managed to sleep, she woke up more and more tired than when she fell asleep.

"It's not okay if you die, honey."

"Why not? Who are you, what do you want from me?"

Eyes rolled at the top of the stairs. If they had a body, they would have massaged the temples.

"Because you are important. You have to live. You have still a lot to do."

Raelle clicked her tongue against her teeth, swallowed non-existent saliva. How long had she not drunk? Or did she eat? Her eyes moved to where the glass had been resting for two days now, and she saw the outline, the liquid surface moving with every movement of her body. She felt the immense desire to drink it.

And that need prevailed.

Raelle grabbed the glass with uncertain but not trembling fingers; she was ceasing to feel fear. She closed them on the cold surface of the glass and she held it up, bringing it to her lips.

She sniffed, but the liquid had no smell. Like water, after all.

She put her lips on the edge 

Then, she shivered.

If it had been poison, she would have died.

But the voice had invited her to drink, to stay alive. Why?

It could always be a ploy to get her to do it.

Yet, now, being so close, she felt her throat burn again, and that acid rose and rose and increased her thirst and...

She raised the glass and started drinking.

That liquid tasted of nothing, not even water, but as soon as it got into her throat, went through the esophagus, wetting her flesh, and finally into her stomach, Raelle remembered the summer days spent at the lake with her mother.

The small lake not far from the village, where the reeds rose from the shore and the aquatic plants populated the whole area, filling the place with humidity and heat. Mosquitoes always started buzzing from the early afternoon, the colors became faded and tending to yellow in that heat, but the red and white squared blanket, the food basket and the straw hat of Willa... Those remained clear inside Raelle's memory: colorful beyond measure, shining. As well as the sound of water and the scent of it. Even those more salty notes that invaded the nostrils in stagnant areas.

Raelle finished the glass in seconds, wiping her lips with the back of her hand, feeling invigorated like never before, almost like having just finished a wedding lunch. She stared at the empty glass, her eyebrows wrinkling.

She could see it. The darkness was slowly dissipating.

She looked up into space, and in the shadows of what was far away she also saw what was near: the beginning of a wide staircase, smooth and shiny floor, candelabra on which the light of the flames shone. And the windows, the glass and the mosaics, ancient relics, paintings, portraits, perfectly polished armor.

She suddenly felt more aware and clear-headed. She remembered what had happened. In the afternoon, the water lily pond, the rose garden, the climb.

The door of the house opening, the night wind. Its bite.

She blinked, understanding. That was the mansion on the hill, the frightening presence behind the back of the village.

Eyes smiled viciously from the top of the stairs, feeling Raelle's soul become attentive and finally aware.

"Welcome, child."


	5. Act V

"What did you give me to drink? Why can I see now?"

Eyes smiled from the darkness, on the stairs.

"You're giving up fighting. That's why you can see."

"Fight? What ..?"

Eyes sighed, but no one could hear that sound, because they didn't exist in the physical world.

"Don't you feel any different?"

Raelle analyzed herself; body, conscience, senses. She felt lucid. Her body temperature was returning to normal, she had stopped sweating. With every second her eyes became more alert, even more than necessary, more than she remembered. They burned slightly at the corners, but that was only a superficial detail, perhaps given by the time spent in total darkness.

She was finally able to see the colors, the faint sunlight penetrating through every window. It wasn't much, maybe it was still morning.

"If you're wondering what time it is, it's afternoon. The sun shines high in the sky"

If only Raelle could see the expression painted on those eyes, she would tremble. Nothing in that presence was kind or caring. They didn't have a mouth, at least not at the moment, but they sure were smiling wickedly. A long line of sharp teeth ready to tear out anything that stood in their way.

Raelle quickly shifted her gaze to the faded shadow that was the front door. She could have run away. Yes, she would have made it, she was fast.

"It's afternoon?" The blonde tried to distract that invisible voice perpetually present, continuing to speak. In the meantime she managed to move her legs, to raise herself up against the corner that had become her shelter in the last few days. She had to go home, to escape, to go fast and determined. She glanced back at the door, then up the stairs, still half immersed in darkness. The voice was the only present sound heard by her ears. It meant that there were no other people besides her in that place.

"Easy, little girl. What do you plan to do?"

Raelle swallowed loudly, trying to figure out how she could defend herself from a possible attack from the shadows. She didn't know.

She had no choice but to try.

So she ran.

Even though the body was still weak, Raelle was no longer as weak as before drinking that glass of water — it had to be water.

She let her hand run on the wall to the left, the same wall on which the large wooden entrance door stood. She moved her heavy legs, drugged her feet on the smooth cold floor, reached the door, grabbed the handle, and

"Stop"

A cloud, fog. Whatever it was, it had appeared from a flash of light to her right, creating a strange swirling vapor, an ethereal form, dust standing still against gravity in time and space.

An open hand pressed hard against the wood, preventing Raelle from opening the heavy door. The blonde's clear gaze drifted involuntarily towards the direction that arm came from, but her vision was still impaired. She saw black, she saw white, she saw the deepest blue she had ever seen.

"You can't go out yet, you won't be able to. Hold on for a few days. I'll come."

The voice was not at all like that of the shadows. It had a body, a soul, an intention. A personality.

The blue flickered, sensing Raelle's interest, and in the blink of an eye it was swallowed again by the same cloud of dust that had surrounded it, disappearing into thin air. A click accompanied that movement, letting Raelle know that the door had been locked. The key was gone.

She was trapped. She couldn't get out. She couldn't leave. Why? Why was she there?

Who was that person, that thing?

What had happened?

Raelle trembled, leaning her forehead against the door, approaching the surface with the palm of her hand, not daring to touch the obstacle that separated her from her life. Why couldn't she remember? Why did she feel constantly hungry and impatient since she was there? So voracious? What happened to her?

Eyes lost all trace of amusement. They stared at the blonde's back and then moved on her right, where time had stopped for a single, very brief moment, showing something. And that moment escaped their view. A quick distraction, the idea of seeing the new guest burn, moan and fall under the intense summer sun, and they had missed the moment.

Eyes returned to watch Raelle, leaning against the door, and could feel her fear. They narrowed, full of intent.

"Good. Now I can tell you how your life ended."


	6. Act VI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, a bit of warning.  
> This one is not very pleasant with the images, so..maybe do not read if you have to eat?

"What ..?"

Raelle felt the knuckles and every other bone of her hand squeezed and tense over the handle of the door.

"Am I dead..?"

"Silly child. Can you not feel your heart beating? You're not dead."

She sighed, placing a hand on her chest for the hundredth time, feeling the fast rhythm of her heart beneath her breastbone.

"Worse."

Eyes smiled in a way unrelated to the earthly world, a smile that had nothing to do with the human emotions capable of creating that reaction.

"You were just taken in someone else's place, little beast."

"What... What does that mean?"

The voice became more and more contemptuous, more dangerous and somewhat liquid. Raelle could feel it entering through her skin, trying to force her soul, her secrets, her desires.

"It means that you, now, are mine. And you will allow me to live, living in your turn. You cannot leave. There is no escape." 

Eyes laughed loudly, deeply, for several seconds, visibly - as visible as they might be - amused.

"If you let yourself die, I will force you to eat. If you want to escape, I will love to watch the pain of every attempt. You will be happy to know that if you went out a little while ago, you would be burned under the sun. Until you begged me to take you back inside, in this sweet, cold darkness."

Raelle swallowed.

"I had another one before you, but it didn't last long. It was she who did this to you, you know? Who made you take her place."

The amused voice continued to sound entirely content for the duration of that explanation.

"I must be honest, I lied. There is actually a way to escape. I just wanted to see your terrified expression at the idea of not being able to."

It laughed again, briefly and even a little annoyed.

"Now you are still in between being human and being monster, little girl. When you'll accept it, and if anyone ever comes here, then all you need to do is to just... condemn someone else to this fate. I will live on, and you, well, you'll never be the same again."

The satisfaction emanating from those words was palpable, permeating the air.

"A victory for both, small creature."

Raelle tried to put each piece together. What did that mean? Was she a monster? Was she a vampire, or some other creature which stories were talked about in books, by the fire? What did it mean that someone else had put her in her place? She remembered nothing. She was only a girl.

"One more information. The thing you drank wasn't water. It tasted so good, though, right...?"

Raelle darted her gaze to the corner from which she had come: the glass was still on the floor, empty. Whatever it was, it tasted truly delicious.

"It was water from the lake where you were with your mother, little one. A few fish, seaweed, don't worry if you taste blood on your tongue, it will simply be the wood of the reeds that cut your throat... "

The voice laughed even more maliciously than before while Raelle widened her eyes, suddenly feeling the taste of what she drank. Only this time, with the awareness of those who know and cannot forget.

She felt the stagnant water, the grass, the buzzing midges, the reeds, the sultry heat. She felt them in her mouth. The taste, in addition to the scent. An intense nausea cought her unprepared. She bent forward, hands on her knees, disgusted by the knowledge of what she had let come into her body and found delicious at the time, concealed by the darkness of unawareness. She threw up what she had ingested, and saw that the voice was right.

It was exactly that.

Dirty water, algae, a tiny bit of straw.

_Her mother's hat._

Eyes sparkled in the darkness of the top of the stairs, terrible, merciless.

"It's great, always great to see the first time! How wonderful... You'll get used to it, sweetie-"

"No! No, I- ... I'm going to escape from this hellish place..." Raelle growled, regaining some control over her mind and body, staring at the dark stairs. Her eyes began to see more detail than before.

"Oh, honey... Everyone say that. Just wait a few days. Your guide will let you know why running away would be a terrible, unpleasant idea."


	7. Act VII

The guide arrived the next day, at sunset, while the light passing through the windows painted strange figures on the walls covered by a dark red wallpaper.

She was a girl. She carried a large rug with her, and Raelle only noticed the new presence after several seconds. She moved silently, and had come through the darkness of a door without making a single sound. The blonde lifted her weary eyelids, fixing her eyes on that person, who seemed to ignore her as she laid the clean and washed carpet on the floor.

"Who are you?"

Silence was broken by Raelle's quiet voice.

The girl gave no sign of having heard her. She continued her duties, kneeling on the ground, running her hand carefully over the unrolled carpet, straightening the folds, smoothing where there were wrinkles, removing some hairs that got stuck in the wefts of the fabric, probably brought from the outside by Raelle the night she was taken by the house.

"Are you a maid?" Raelle spoke again, uncertainly, frowning, and the guide couldn't help but smile briefly, looking offended.

"Do I look like a maid to you?"

Her voice was calm and gentle. Raelle felt charmed by it, struck.

"I cannot see what you look like... It's dark."

The girl finally raised her head, but without turning to Raelle, so as to allow her to see only dark hair, and the profile of her face.

"Right." She sighed, placing her hands on her knees and getting up a moment after. She finally approached Raelle. Not too much, though. She kept some distance from her anyway, and when she was sure the blonde could see her, she crossed her arms in front of her chest. Raelle watched closely.

For the first time since the first night, she didn't feel alone.

"Who are you then?"

"I'm your guide."

The omniscient voice said that a guide would come.

"My guide for what?"

"To understand what your life will be like from now on"

Raelle frowned and clenched her fists, sitting in her usual corner.

"I do not want that."

"You have no choice."

"Really?"

The guide looked into her eyes, her gaze hard.

"No, you don't."

"There is always a choice" Raelle rebutted.

The brunette girl exhaled in amusement, approaching the stairs with slow steps and leaning against the wooden handrail.

"Well, you're wrong. Some things just happen and you can do nothing about it. So let's make this simple, fast, and we'll all be happy."

Raelle returned her gaze with the same energy. Listless, indifferent, hostile. Until the blue of the guide's eyes lit up a memory. Raelle leaned forward, narrowing imperceptibly her gaze.

"It was you. You shut the door."

"I should have let you go outside and burn."

The guide's tone was tired, impatient. After a few seconds she ran a hand over her forehead, closing her eyes. And she took a breath.

"Listen, Raelle. There is no escape from this place." Now her expression had changed, changed by an attempt at understanding, at empathy. It was strange to feel that emotion coming from the outsode after days of fear. How that girl knew her name, Raelle didn't know.

"You'll have to get used to it. And to get used to it you'll have to try very hard. The house needs a guest to survive. And when the previous guest took you, putting you in their place, you started becoming a monster. An abnormal, ruthless, savage creature. You'll lose your humanity."

"I don't need to enter an abandoned house to become a monster or lose humanity. The world is already like this."

The guide smiled a little smile, sincerely amused. They stared at each other, curious, then the guide started walking closer.

Raelle instinctively drew back, pulling her knees to her chest, but the girl sat down far enough on the ground, giving her space.

"It doesn't happen the same way. I've seen terrible things happening in here. People who were once kind lose their minds completely." The blue gaze watched an indefinite point on the ground, lost in ancient memories, of which Raelle could not even imagine the nuances.

"Have they... gone crazy?"

The guide regained a bit of clarity at the sound, returning to look directly into her eyes. Her voice remained flat.

"They have become monsters."

Raelle bit her lip, feeling her thirst coming back at the thought of being an abnormal creature. Even just the possibility made her throat burn. Was that also part of the whole thing?

"What kind of monsters?"

"The kind who feeds on what they love to survive."

\- - - -

Raelle waited before asking another question. Feed? On what she loved?

"What... Do you mean?"

The guide smiled bitterly.

"This house is not nice, Raelle. It will force you to do things you don't want to do. It will instill doubts and desires. But the worst thing that will happen to you is that the pain will only end the moment you feed on what you love."

She meant the pain of transformation, of course. Yes, because apparently she was turning into a monster, and it hurt. Even though the fever was gone and the cold sweat didn't cover her skin anymore, the pain was still there. Always, in every moment. Tearing her apart. And it had only disappeared when...

The change in her gaze made the girl sitting across from her smile an inexpressive smile. It was just made of lips turned upward.

"Got it?"

"I drank what I loved."

"And you found it delicious until you knew what it was."

Raelle felt petrified. What kind of devilry was that? Eating what you love? What kind of a living being could force a human to do such a thing?

"I'll never eat again."

Her guide let out a laugh, shaking the head.

"Everyone says it, in the beginning. Until the hunger becomes insatiable, and when what the house put into you when it bit, will prevail."

"No. I'll make it."

The girl looked at her for a long time then, narrowing her eyes, hinting at a smile. She liked Raelle's determination, but she doubted her success. With a short breath she stood up.

"When you'll feed, you will regain all senses. In fact, they will improve. All of them. And this is usually what makes every guest a monster. Because you can't stop yourself anymore." She gave her a very brief and sad smile, then she turned and started walking towards the room she had come from.

"Wait. Who are you, what's your name? Do you live here? And who is the voice I hear?" Raelle jumped to her feet without even noticing, she reached out to grab the guide's arm, but the brunette drew back, albeit with her back turned. She moved her head, looking at the other girl only out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm Scylla. Don't look for me. I'll come."

And she disappeared into the darkness, leaving Raelle alone in the entrance hall.

No one before had ever asked what her name was.


	8. Act VIII

And so it began. Raelle didn't really have a real idea of what was waiting for her. The house, when it had taken her, had felt her wishes, instincts, curiosities. The glass of lake water was just a joke, after all. Eyes loved to see the reaction of the guests during the fateful moment of truth, but the love for a lake, for a memory, didn't carry enough energy to keep them alive and strong. For this reason eyes were increasingly focused on love for people and animals. If the guests ate something alive and warm, something capable of feeling emotions and possessing virtues, those...

Those were the best dinners, the delicious banquets. Each guest was tied to the house, their food was food for Eyes. What Raelle would feed on would go right into the stomach of Eyes, giving them power and control, allowing them to exist in the world.

Thus, eyes scanned Raelle's soul that first night while fighting the monster that fought to come out and prevail over humanity. And they saw what the new guest wanted.

A girl.

\- - - -

The first girl who arrived beside the house was the day after Scylla's visit.

It was late in the afternoon, the rumor of the disappearance of the doctor's daughter had spread throughout the village, and everyone had moved thus starting the search.Raelle saw her from the window she was leaning against with her forehead.

As soon as her tired eyes rested on that figure, her throat closed, acid boiled in her stomach, ready to eat anything. She looked away, repulsed by that hunger: it was the girl she had seen in her mind the night she was taken; the girl from the village, the one who always came to ask for advice about her father and his leg.

Raelle smelled the scent of her skin, especially that on the wrist, where her nose slightly touched every time she put her lips on the back of the girl's hand to greet her, as she used to do. She saw the colour of the brows and their shape. In the blonde's mind the image of her appeared violently, smiling, willing to give herself to the monster she was becoming, so that she could taste her.

Raelle covered both ears with her hands, swallowed at least ten times in a matter of seconds. But the suave voice was still in her mind, it didn't come from outside. Hunger did not accept rejection, and the saliva on the tounge became abundant.

Outside the mansion, the girl looked curious and frightened at the large wooden door as she knocked. Raelle groaned, feeling a pang in her stomach. Her eyes opened, haunted, and she unwittingly moved her head to the left, toward the door behind which was the object of her desire, of her hunger.

"No... " She squeezed her head tighter, closed her eyes again, even though her fatigue magnified, her hunger burned the inner walls.

Eyes, dark beyond the stairs, watched her suffer, resist her impulses, grinning.

"Is anybody there?"

Raelle felt the entire body contract, and then moving against her will: her legs moved, hands gripping the wall, pupils dilated, her vision finally became clearer. And she saw for the first time the extraordinary beauty of the house she was in. Not that she paid attention to it anyway, as the only thing that mattered to her right now was eating. To eat. To survive.

"Raelle?"

The girl's muffled voice called from behind the door, sounding worried. And only then, did Raelle pause, her hand already gripping furiously on the golden handle.

Raelle was her name.

She was a human, she was not a monster.

She was not a monster.

Had she really been on the verge of killing a girl, for food? Did she really love someone after only seeing her maybe only ten times, in her village?

She stopped. Everything in her screamed to keep her going, for her to open the door, for her to pounce on the young woman. But Raelle didn't.

Eyes narrowed, impatient, bitter, seeing the rebellion. Raelle slid silently against the door, crying, holding herself back with every bit of willpower possessed in body and soul and mind. Or at least, what was still owned.

The girl left after a few minutes, saddened, unaware of the presence of the blonde in the midst of hunger and torment on the other side of the door.

Eyes, when sunset came, disappeared into the darkness, relegated to the room to which they had been perennially linked every day, as the sun went down.

Scylla appeared on the stairs and watched Raelle from a distance, where she still couldn't see. A lightly rapt expression painted on her impassive face.


End file.
